Charmin Smith (born May 2, 1975) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach and former player who is the head coach of the California Golden Bears women's team.

Early life and collegiate career

Smith was born in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

on May 2, 1975. Her brother, Charles, was her role model for basketball when she was growing up. Upon graduating from

Ladue Horton Watkins High School Ladue Horton Watkins High School is a public high school in Ladue, Missouri, United States, that is administered by the Ladue School District. Its namesake, Horton Watkins, was vice president of the International Shoe Company and died in 1949 ...

in St. Louis in 1993, Smith attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, where she played four years for the

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

. A four-year letter winner, Smith helped Stanford win three consecutive

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

championships and make three consecutive Final Four appearances in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, and

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. Smith averaged 4.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists during her senior year. Smith earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in civil and environmental engineering at Stanford.

Professional career

After her years at Stanford, Smith played one year with the Portland Power of the

ABL ABL may refer to: Aviation * Airborne Laser, a weapons system designed for use by the United States military * Air Busan of South Korea (ICAO airline code) * IATA airport code for Ambler Airport in State of Alaska, USA Companies, groups, organiz ...

, the last year before the league folded. She would be signed by the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team won the WNBA ...

for the 1999 WNBA season. In 2000 the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...

picked her up in the expansion draft, and she would play for the Storm for the 2000 and 2001 seasons. She would play one more season in the WNBA for the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

in 2003. Smith went overseas in 2003 to play for the Swedish team

Solna Vikings Solna Vikings was a Swedish professional basketball club with a men's team and a women's team. Both played in their respective top leagues: the women in the Damligan, and the men in the Swedish Basketball League. History The Solna Vikings was ...

before retiring from the sport as a player. During her off-seasons with the WNBA, Smith would work as a production assistant and editor with NBA Entertainment, as well as with the Seattle Storm CR office.

Career statistics

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

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Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

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2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, 32 , , 3 , , 16.1 , , .286 , , .313 , , .56 , , 1.5 , , 1.7 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 1.0 , , 1.6 , - , align="left" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

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, 32 , , 8 , , 18.4 , , .270 , , .289 , , .619 , , 1.7 , , 1.2 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.8 , , 1.8 , - , align="left" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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College career statistics

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Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, 24, , -, , -, , 43.5, , 36.4, , 75.0, , 1.1, , 0.4, , 0.2, , 0.2, , -, , 1.5 , - , align="left" , 1994–95 , align="left" ,

, 31, , -, , -, , 35.4, , 33.3, , 66.7, , 1.7, , 1.7, , 0.6, , 0.1, , -, , 1.7 , - , align="left" , 1995–96 , align="left" ,

, 32, , -, , -, , 29.2, , 25.9, , 65.0, , 3.5, , 1.9, , 0.7, , 0.3, , -, , 2.8 , - , align="left" , 1996–97 , align="left" ,

, 36, , -, , -, , 35.6, , 33.8, , 69.2, , 3.4, , 2.2, , 0.8, , 0.1, , -, , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , Career , 123, , -, , -, , 34.0, , 31.3, , 68.8, , 2.5, , 1.6, , 0.6, , 0.2, , -, , 2.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="14", Statistics retrieved from

Sports-Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey Ref ...

Coaching career

Boston College

Smith began her coaching career as an assistant under Cathy Inglese at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

in the 2003−04 season. The Eagles won their first Big East tournament championship, and were eliminated in the regional semifinals of the 2004 NCAA tournament.

Stanford

Smith was subsequently hired by

Tara VanDerveer Tara Ann VanDerveer (born June 26, 1953) is an American former basketball coach who was the head women's basketball coach at Stanford University from 1985 until her retirement in 2024. Designated the Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women's Basketba ...

, under whom she played at Stanford, as an assistant for the

. In Smith's three years on VanDerveer's staff, the Cardinal went 87−16 overall, attaining a record of 49−5 in Pac-10 play, while winning two conference tournaments and making the Elite 8 twice.

California

Smith joined

Joanne Boyle Joanne Boyle (born November 1, 1963) is the former head coach of the University of Virginia women's basketball team. Prior to joining the Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball, Cavaliers, Boyle served as the head coach of the California Golden ...

's coaching staff at

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 2007. The Golden Bears won the 2010 WNIT and made postseason appearances in all of Boyle's remaining years as coach. Smith remained on the California staff when

Lindsay Gottlieb Lindsay Catherine Gottlieb (born October 2, 1977) is an American basketball coach who is the women's head coach for the USC Trojans women's basketball, USC Trojans of the Big Ten Conference. She was previously the head coach of the California Gol ...

was named head coach in 2011. For the 2012−13 season, Gottlieb promoted Smith to associate head coach, helping to lead a team with high expectations coming off a second round NCAA tournament appearance in 2011−12. That year, California went 32–4 (17–1 in the Pac-10) and made their first ever

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

appearance.

New York Liberty

On April 2, 2019, Smith joined

Katie Smith Katie Smith (born June 4, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes women's basketball team. She is the former head coach of the New York Liberty. A retired professional baske ...

's staff with the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Confer ...

as an assistant coach. She served in that capacity for roughly two and a half months.

Return to California as head coach

Following Lindsay Gottlieb's departure for the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

nine days earlier, Smith returned to California on June 21, 2019, being announced as the 10th head coach in California Golden Bears history. She departed New York with Katie Smith's blessing.

Head coaching record

References

External links

WNBA Player Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Charmin 1975 births Living people African-American basketball coaches American expatriate basketball people in Sweden American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Basketball coaches from Missouri Basketball players from St. Louis Boston College Eagles women's basketball coaches California Golden Bears women's basketball coaches Ladue Horton Watkins High School alumni Minnesota Lynx players Phoenix Mercury players Portland Power players Seattle Storm players Solna Vikings players Stanford Cardinal women's basketball coaches Stanford Cardinal women's basketball players Guards (basketball) Seattle Storm draft picks